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OnFrank the MP6 is still a new instrument and it will likely not see a successor for another 2 years or so.

Back OT though, I think the ES7 looks great. A little disappointed about the PHI instead of UPHI though. I really liked the ES6 when I demoed one and I think this one will be better than it. I'm really looking forward to this piano.

I emailed Kawai America last evening and asked when the new ES7 was going to be available here in the States and got the following response:

Greetings

Thanks for your interest in the new ES7. It is a terrific instrument. We'll be shipping the ES7 to our dealers sometime next week. Please check with your local dealer about their intentions to stock this new product.

IMOL, yes the main MP6 sounds form the basis of the ES7's sounds. However the ES7 uses a new, more powerful DSP, with redeveloped reverb, effects, amp sim, resonances etc. and higher spec DACs, so the overall sound quality should be superior to the MP6.

The RH2 action's triple-sensor switch is located in the same position as for the original RH action.

I am looking for a lightweight portable Midi master keyboard that is piano like so the ES7 is a perfect fit.The stand look good and i do want pedals.The ES7 has it as options.

Also it is probably not too expensive I hope. Many seem to like the RH I keys in MP6 (predecessor keys to RH II) more than your RM3 Grand (MP10) keys. Here is just one of these guysReview: Kawai MP6 Stage PianoNote that he also says the keys feel better than Yamaha ones he has tried.I have heard another reviewer that said he really liked the MP6 keys very much.

So as long as the quality is good enough (no issues) I will probably buy the ES7.

My Nord Electro has a very loud, clicking/creaking keyboard action. This is perhaps to be expected given the board's light weight, however it can be a little off-putting when playing at low volume in my room.

That said, I honestly don't believe the Kawai actions have a problem with clicking keys. Of course, you may read the odd negative report, or stumble upon a YouTube video that highlights an issue, however the same could be said for all manufacturer's instruments. If a key does develop a click over time, it's usually due to a lack of grease, and this is a simple job for a technician to resolve. Generally speaking, however, the Kawai actions are quiet and reliable.

By the way, thanks for posting the MP6 review on YouTube - it's always interesting for me to watch folks reviewing their instruments and explaining the motivation for a purchase. I thought the guy could have perhaps gone into greater detail about the various settings to adjust the sound (Virtual Technician, effects, reverb, amp sim, etc.), but perhaps he hadn't gotten stuck into those features when the video was made?

Oh, I think I almost got a name check too.

Anyway, to return to the ES7, I'm very positive about this new model - there's so much to like about it: really great action, excellent sounds, lots of features, etc. And of course, the manual is a work of art.

Well, fingers and toes crossed for this year's International Owner's Manual Awards. The ES7 documentation is nominated along with the Panasonic MK-5076 and Zanussi ZWH6160P. Suffice to say it's a tough year.

Well, fingers and toes crossed for this year's International Owner's Manual Awards. The ES7 documentation is nominated along with the Panasonic MK-5076 and Zanussi ZWH6160P. Suffice to say it's a tough year.

Oh yeah, I forgot about the Zanussi. Great little manual that. I think the Karcher 110 bar pressure washer was a worthy effort too - the way it talks about those different nozzles is very insightful. But I still think you'll shade them James.

Well, I'm considering this piano, but I don't know when it will be available in my country, so if someone has tested the ES7, or will test it in the near future, I would appreciate some feedback about the sound (quality, effects and so on) the feel (touch) and its functions.

It will feature the same action (with an extra sensor for quick repetition) and same basic sounds (with improved processing) as the MP6, which is a much beloved piano. As far as I know no one here has tested one yet, but based on what we know about it, we can be pretty confident that it will be a winner.

My Nord Electro has a very loud, clicking/creaking keyboard action. This is perhaps to be expected given the board's light weight, however it can be a little off-putting when playing at low volume in my room.

That said, I honestly don't believe the Kawai actions have a problem with clicking keys. Of course, you may read the odd negative report, or stumble upon a YouTube video that highlights an issue, however the same could be said for all manufacturer's instruments. If a key does develop a click over time, it's usually due to a lack of grease, and this is a simple job for a technician to resolve. Generally speaking, however, the Kawai actions are quiet and reliable.

By the way, thanks for posting the MP6 review on YouTube - it's always interesting for me to watch folks reviewing their instruments and explaining the motivation for a purchase. I thought the guy could have perhaps gone into greater detail about the various settings to adjust the sound (Virtual Technician, effects, reverb, amp sim, etc.), but perhaps he hadn't gotten stuck into those features when the video was made?

Oh, I think I almost got a name check too.

Anyway, to return to the ES7, I'm very positive about this new model - there's so much to like about it: really great action, excellent sounds, lots of features, etc. And of course, the manual is a work of art.

Cheers,Jamesx

Thank you. Yes I think you are right about the grease.

I have decided I do not want a Fatar keybed (found in Nord, Kurzweil and Numa keyboards i think).

Interesting you have clicking/creaking experiences of your Nord. All keyboards seems to have it to some degree.

Now I almost can't wait for the ES7 to be available here in Sweden. Please ship it to Thomann (reseller) as soon as possible. The ES7 just must be a BIG Success.

And yes the guy making the MP6 review must be talking about you Kawai James although he doesn't really say your "name".

I had to look at you playing on your Nord Electro 3 with your band. Clicked your link "occasional rare groove player".I must say I am impressed of the whole band. I really like your music. Especially the quality of the sounds from your instruments and how you all perform.

I bet somebody will accuse me of being a Kawai representative now. These things tend to happen to me with all these trolls out there.

I bet somebody will accuse me of being a Kawai representative now. These things tend to happen to me with all these trolls out there.

Haha, it's like I said to that one knucklehead a few days ago: accusations (and maybe the event of) someone being a shill are very common in the piano forum, not so common here. I guess because retailers are more promiscuous, selling lots of brands of digital products at the same time? Dunno.

India awaits. You'll soon be "elbows on knees" for hours on end so take a good book into the toilet James. A certain part of your anatomy might resemble the Japanese flag in a few day's time. I'm a glass half-empty kind of guy, in case you were wondering.

I wish they'd put some decent demos of the different piano samples on the website. Are the other voices from different pianos or modifications of the concert grand? I don't love the standard Kawai Grand sound from what I've heard so far, it's what I'd describe as "clinical and clean".

Tom Love recently wrote an insightful blog post detailing the main improvements to the ES7, here.

Thanks! From the insightful blog post:

Let’s get a little “techie” for a moment, shall we?

Uh oh.

Kawai R&D engineers have been working on this new TG for a while and the ES7 is the first Kawai instrument to utilize it. This new TG has a lot of horsepower. For instance, the older ES6 had 192-note polyphony, achieved by using two TG’s “slaved” together. The new TG offers 256-note polyphony all by itself. Polyphony is a reference to how many notes an instrument can play simultaneously. Thus, the new ES7 is able to handle a lot more notes being played at once, so note dropout in a complex piece of music is much less of an issue.

Is polyphony so important that it needs to be mentioned first? It's not like everyone's complaining about Kawais dropping notes.

Another major improvement comes in a dramatic increase in DSP processing power. Having more processor power allowed Kawai engineers to completely rewrite the algorithms for the various DSP effects, such as chorus, echo and rotary speaker, and reverbs, greatly enhancing and expanding the ES7’s effects and reverbs.

I do like a nice reverb. Though I wish he had mentioned sympathetic resonance here.

Other important technical improvements include improved digital to audio converters (DACs). This enhances the quality of the sound coming from the speakers and headphones, and through the audio outputs.

I'm not sure I'd make a blanket statement like this. The audibility of modern DAC quality differences is debatable. It's not like they're replacing a 12 bitter or something. Hi res DACs are so cheap there's no reason not to throw half-way decent ones in there.

The ES7’s key action now has a 3-sensor system, which gives the TG better key sensing capability and faster note repetition.

This is the real news IMO. Though I'm not sure what took Kawai so long to catch up to Casio.

Okay, enough tech talk.

Huh? What about the elephant in the room (tiny piano sample sets)? *sigh*